Filing-cabinet.



P.W.AGKERMAN.

FILING CABINET. APPLICATION FILED DB0. I, 1911.

APH C0., WASHINGTON D C F, W. ACKERMAN.

FILING CABINET. I APPLICATION FILED 1120.18, 1911.

1,099,868, A Patented June 9,1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, Dic.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK W. ACKERMAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO YAWMAN 8c ERBE MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FILING-CABINET.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1914.

To all whom i?? may concern.'

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. ACKER- MAN, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Filing- Cabinets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the referencenumerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to filing devices and particularly to filing cabinets of the type disclosed in my prior pending application, Serial No. 619,142, filed April 5, 1911, being in fact an improvement upon or addition to the invention there set forth, and it has for its object to provide means for automatically holding the rods or suspension members from which the filing pockets depend from becoming so displaced in an endwise direction when temporarily withdrawn upon the extension supports that they interfere with the closing of the cabinet unless manually adjusted and do not return with surety to the supports provided within the cabinet for` them.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claim at the end of the specilication. l

ln the drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view, taken from front to rear, through a filing cabinet constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention, the same being shown in extended or open position; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the cabinet closed; Fig. 3 is a detail section taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. f1 is a plan view with the parts in the position of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

The particular cabinet illustrated in connection with the present improvements is substantially that shown in the prior application above referred to and there more particularly described. As to its general features, however, it comprises a suitable boX like casing 1 having a top or cover 2 and a front 3. On each side wall, preferably below Athe top thereof, is secured a cleat or rail 4- forming spaced ledges or supports upon which rest, respectively, the opposite ends of a plurality of suspension rods 5 that are secured at the mouths of a plurality of flat depending bags or pockets 6 which fill the interior of the casing but one only has been shown in the views herein to prevent concealing the rest of the structure. There is preferably one rod at each side of each pocket, and the latter constitute the Afiling receptacles in which are contained in a vertical position, blue prints or other sheets that the cabinet as a whole is designed to accommodate, the bags and their contents being compressed together and safely held in compact condition in a manner hereinafter described.

ln order to obtain ready access to the in- `termediate pocket of the series, extension supports forming continuations of the supports 4; are provided upon which the suspension rods 5 of the forward pockets may be slid or transferred to free those behind them for inspection or withdrawal, and these eX- tension supports, in the present instance, comprise links 7 pivoted at their forward ends at 8 to a frame 9 arranged at the front of the'cabinet, while their rear ends are providedwith slots 10 by means of which they are slidably guided upon pins 11 on the cabinet, the said slots terminating in recesses 12 for the purpose of locking the supports in their projected position, as set forth in the prior application mentioned.

The frame 9 is preferably hinged at 13 at its lower end to the cabinet and may be displaced forwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, in which position it forms a rear support for the front 3, to which it is pivoted at 14;, when the latter is extended as shown to provide a table for the inspection of the contents of the pocket 6, the forward end of the front in this position being preferably supported by a. folding leg 15. When the cabinet is closed, the frame 9 and front 3 lie upright and parallel, as shown in Fig. 2, the latter being on the outside and forming` the closure for the front of the cabinet and being secured by the lowered cover 2. As the frame 9 is displaced forwardly, it automatically draws out the extension support 7 the latter acting in fact to limit the forward movement of the frame, and the rods 5, extending transversely of both the primary support i and the extension supcome slightly misplaced in an endwise direction so that when it is attempted to close the cabinet and thrust the pockets rearwardly again onto the primary supports 4 by the rearward movement of the frame 9, the extremities of the rods, or some of them, may project laterally of the side walls sothat they will engage the front edges of the latter and resist the inward movement until otherwise adjusted. To-prevent this slight, but annoying, displacement, I

provide extension guides 16 that coperate with the end faces of the rods 5 and hold them in proper alinement with the primary supports 4 and inside of the inner faces of the side walls of the cabinet, particularly when the rods are on the extension support 7, and through the control exerted by these guides the rods are prevented from jamming and are made to ride smoothly back upon the primary supports 4, with which they are kept alined.

In the present embodiment of the invention, I prefer to pivot the front ends of the guides 16 to the frame 9 at 17, similarly to the extension support 7, while their rear ends slide in suitable guideways on the cabinet. In the present instance these guideways are formed by a recess or rabbet 1S in the top inner edges of the supporting cleat 4 in which they are held by cleats 19 secured tothe side walls of the cabinet above them. The guides are thus drawn out automatically and simultaneously with the extension support 7 when the frame 9 is displaced forwardly and lie coextensively with the said extensions. In the construction shown the guides also abut or are adapted to abut the ends of the rods 5 when the latter rest solely upon the primary supports 4 and the cabinet is closed or folded together.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with a cabinet having cleats provided with grooves and forming spaced primary supports on its side walls and relatively transverse suspension members arranged with their ends resting on the supports and movable longitudinally thereof, of a forwardly displaceable part at the front of the cabinet, extension supports having fixed pivotal connection therewith at their forward ends and having their rear ends guided to slide on the cabinet walls, said extension supports being adapted, when the part mentioned is drawn out, to constitute continuations of the primary supports upon which the suspension members may be transferred, and imperforate extensible end guides having their forward ends connected by fixed pivots to the forwardly displaceable part, said pivots being in fixed relation to the corresponding pivots of the extension support, and their rear ends guided to slide with their edges in the grooves of the primary supports, said end supports being adapted to be similarly projected to lie coextensive with the extension supports and to maintain the ends of the suspension members in alinement with the primary suports. p FREDERICK W. ACKERMAN.

Witnesses:

RUSSELL B. GRIFFITH, NELSON H. COPP.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

